Derrick Green of Green Remote Aviation monitors the takeoff of a drone prior to a search Nov. 4, 2016, in White Bear Lake Township. His company recently helped the Woodbury Public Safety department search for a young vulnerable person. (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

A vulnerable man had disappeared from his Woodbury home, leaving his phone and wallet behind. He had been missing for 18 hours.

Green launched his drone — and also helped launch the future of search-and-rescue work.

“This was our debut,” said Green, who is a co-owner of Green Remote Aviation of White Bear Lake Township. “This was our first public safety mission.”

The missing man was eventually found — not by the drone, but by the Minnesota State Patrol. But the drone performed an impressive two-hour search, eliminating areas where the man might be.

It was the first time that Woodbury Police had used a drone, and spokeswoman Michelle Okada said the department was impressed. “We found this to be extremely helpful,” she said.

Such endorsements are a sign that drone use is going to increase, said Jim Franklin, director of the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association.

He said the association is scrambling to put together standardized recommendations for drone use. “We want to come at this issue with a unified approach, as opposed to multiple agencies all doing their own,” Franklin said.

A drone could, theoretically, hover outside a window of any home and snap pictures that could be on the internet in seconds.

But Franklin said that so far law enforcement has most often used drones to search for missing persons — not in criminal cases or for surveillance. Every time a drone is used, he said, officials must file reports explaining why and how it was used.

In a small number of cases, he said, drones might track suspected criminals if a search warrant is obtained in advance. Franklin said that the Anoka, Hennepin and Washington county sheriff’s offices have been approved by federal regulators to use the drones.

He said drones have already proven their usefulness. A fleeing thief was recently nabbed in Washington County with help of a drone, and a drone helped rescue a lost hunter near Forest Lake last summer.

Green operates his drone from his White Bear Lake Township home, where there’s a small launching area in the yard. “We can call that the ‘airport’ for now,” he said.

The company owns an airplane, which Green could use to transport a drone anywhere in the country — and search for a missing person the same day.

On Wednesday, he was called by a friend of the missing Woodbury man, who was described as having autism and being high-functioning. “My son is autistic, so this is close to my heart,” Green said.

Green checked with Woodbury police, who welcomed the assistance. He didn’t charge for the service.

By 1 p.m., the drone was flying.

Co-owner Tyler Lauer watched on a screen as the drone checked Woodbury’s Ojibway Park and the shorelines of more than 20 bodies of water. Lauer has piloted drones in more than 1,000 combat missions in Afghanistan.

In Woodbury, the drone flew at 390 feet, occasionally swooping as low as 200 feet. When Lauer spotted something unusual, he used the camera’s 7X zoom lens to take a closer look.

He did not use the drone’s thermal instruments, which can detect the heat of a human body night or day.

Derrick Green brings his drone down after a search. (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

Green said the DJI brand drone cost about $2,000. He has a $20,000 drone that can deliver payloads. Using the bigger drone, he said, a pilot could bring food or medicine to a stranded person.

“The possibilities are endless,” he said.

Franklin, of the Sheriffs’ Association, said the public, not just police, needs to get accustomed to the drones.

“We are getting calls right now, from people who see drones and say we are spying on them,” he said. “And it’s the kid next door.”

Bob is a 40-year veteran (yes, he is grizzled) who edited one Pulitzer Prize winner and wrote two that were nominated. He has also worked in Des Moines, Colorado Springs and Palo Alto. He writes about the suburbs, the environment, housing, religion -- anything but politics. Secret pleasures: Kayaking on the Mississippi on the way to work, doughnuts brought in by someone else. Best office prank: Piling more papers onto Fred Melo’s already trash-covered desk.

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